title: Community Health Environment Scan Survey (CHESS): a novel tool that captures the impact of the built environment on lifestyle factors.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Novel efforts and accompanying tools are needed to tackle the global burden of chronic disease. This paper presents an approach to describe the environments in which people live, work, and play. Community Health Environment Scan Survey (CHESS) is an empirical assessment tool that measures the availability and accessibility, of healthy lifestyle options lifestyle options. CHESS reveals existing community assets as well as opportunities for change, shaping community intervention planning efforts by focusing on community-relevant opportunities to address the three key risk factors for chronic disease (i.e. unhealthy diet, physical inactivity, and tobacco use).
  
  
  METHODS
  The CHESS tool was developed following a review of existing auditing tools and in consultation with experts. It is based on the social-ecological model and is adaptable to diverse settings in developed and developing countries throughout the world.
  
  
  RESULTS
  For illustrative purposes, baseline results from the Community Interventions for Health (CIH) Mexico site are used, where the CHESS tool assessed 583 food stores and 168 restaurants. Comparisons between individual-level survey data from schools and community-level CHESS data are made to demonstrate the utility of the tool in strategically guiding intervention activities.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The environments where people live, work, and play are key factors in determining their diet, levels of physical activity, and tobacco use. CHESS is the first tool of its kind that systematically and simultaneously examines how built environments encourage/discourage healthy eating, physical activity, and tobacco use. CHESS can help to design community interventions to prevent chronic disease and guide healthy urban planning.
authors.affiliation: Matrix Public Health Solutions Inc., New Haven, CT 06515, USA. wong@matrixphc.com
authors.forename: Fiona
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.forename: Denise
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Stevens
authors.forename: Kathleen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: O'Connor-Duffany
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Siegel
authors.forename: Yue
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Gao
mesh_terms: D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000517:prevention & control; D004435:Eating; D004777:Environment; D015444:Exercise; D015438:Health Behavior; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D012307:Risk Factors; D012574:Schools; D012907:Smoking